Claims that the foot-and-mouth outbreak has led thousands of people to become vegetarians could be misleading, the Meat and Livestock Commission said.

Claims that the foot-and-mouth outbreak has led thousands of people to become vegetarians could be misleading, the Meat and Livestock Commission said.

A survey found more than a quarter of people who said they were vegetarian had only recently changed their diet.

In another development the Vegetarian Society yesterday said it had been "inundated" by calls from people across the country who found the foot-and-mouth outbreak "the final straw".

But the Commission said the latest independent data from TNS Superpanel, an organisation which tracks the buying habits of 15,000 households, revealed retail red meat sales generally had gone up by more than six per cent over the last three weeks, compared with the same period last year.

A third of more than 1,000 people questioned for the poll, conducted by ICM, said they would consider giving up meat in the future.

Out of those questioned 87 per cent said they ate meat, but 31 per cent of meat-eaters said they were considering becoming vegetarian.

Richard Lowe, MLC marketing director, said: "Our research shows the true figure is nearer four per cent which means 96 per cent of people eat meat. Red meat has a valuable role to play as part of a balanced diet."